Joint NGO Letter to the Prime Minister Concerning
The World Summit on Sustainable Development
29 May 2002

The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Centre Block, 309-S
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister:

We, the undersigned, are writing to you as representatives of Canadian non-governmental organizations involved in the preparatory process leading to the "World Summit on Sustainable Development" (WSSD), which will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa at the end of August. The Canadian Council for International Co-operation, a coalition of 100 Canadian development organizations, as well as the environmental NGOs (ENGO), through the Canadian Environmental Network, have welcomed the opportunity to participate as NGO representatives in the Canadian delegation.

In approaching the WSSD, we share the aspirations recently expressed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. WSSD is "a chance to restore the momentum that had been felt so palpably after the Earth Summit", that encouraged so many of us in Rio ten years ago. But in recent months, we have also grown increasingly concerned with the directions taken by the preparatory process for WSSD and with the role of some governments who seem to be undermining these aspirations. We are writing on the eve of the Ministerial Meeting in Bali next week to urge you and your Ministers to take strong leadership to restore this momentum in the final outcomes at Johannesburg.

In anticipation of the Bali meeting, Dr. Emil Salim, Chairman of the preparatory process, released earlier this month a draft "Chairman's Text for Negotiation". For Canadian NGOs who have been part of this process, this draft text is deeply disappointing. In our view, it falls tragically short of its intended purpose, that is, to provide a solid foundation of commitments for truly effective plans to turn our shared vision for sustainable development into action.

We appreciate the initiatives of the Canadian delegation in previous preparatory meetings in ensuring that "poverty eradication" featured prominently in the text and that it has some points of substance to it. Members of the delegation also gave priority to issues of gender equality and sought gender sensitive commitments in several sections of the text. But much of this progress in gender equality, and on many other important issues, such as renewable energy, have been excised from the draft text. In the absence of strong leadership on the part of the Canadian delegation, we fear that the outcomes for WSSD will fall far short of a forward-looking action plan for sustainable development.

More specifically there are five overarching concerns for which the Canadian NGO community is seeking concerted Canadian leadership:

1) Putting Human Rights as the Guiding Framework for Achieving Sustainable Development

The achievement of sustainable livelihoods for all citizens, while preserving the planet's ecosystems for future generations, is the core agenda for WSSD. Canadian NGOs increasingly adopt a rights-based approach to securing livelihoods and sustainable development. A human rights framework, to which all countries subscribe in their ratification of UN human rights conventions, is entirely absent from the draft text. As noted above, progress on putting poverty eradication as one of the central goals for WSSD action plans is critically important. But the draft text ignores the primary legal obligations of States in achieving this goal. There is only one passing reference to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, while several sections focus attention to issues of governance and accountability in support of sustainable development. While issues of governance are important, the term 'governance' is vague and can sometimes obscure the clear international human rights obligations of States. We are calling upon the Canadian delegation to ensure that a rights-based approach is prioritized in the forthcoming negotiating process and that it is the guiding framework for the final outcomes document.

2) Working Towards Specific Commitments and Targets

The draft text is bereft of specific commitments and time-bound targets for undertakings or desired outcomes for sustainable development. Many very important specific initiatives and goals with related timelines had been put forward in the early preparatory process, but they have all been taken out of the latest version of the text. The ones that remain are those already agreed upon at previous summits (e.g. the Millennium Development Goals). What is left is more than 100 uses of the verbs "encourage" and "promote", while there are a mere 11 references to a "commitment", and only three uses of the active verb "commit" in a forty-page "action plan". More generally, WSSD must be framed in a much more active, practical implementation mode. The international community had the conceptual Summit ten years ago and Agenda 21 was elaborated. It is now time for concrete implementation. This is what the Johannesburg Summit is all about. Canadian NGOs expect our delegation to WSSD to work towards specific commitments and targets in such areas as corporate social responsibility, protecting water resources from privatization, specific actions to meet the Millennium Development Goals, and a timetable to achieve the goal of 0.7% of GNP for Official Development Assistance (ODA). At the very least a commitment to developing detailed action plans by a certain date should be made at the Summit.

NGOs were deeply disappointed in the outcomes of UN Financing for Development Conference and its "Monterrey Consensus" as the framework for financing the global community's goals of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development. NGOs and citizens' movements from around the world rejected this so-called "consensus". There is massive evidence that decades of uncritical promotion of policies of privatization, foreign direct investment, financial and trade liberalization, and cost-recovery social services in developing countries have exacerbated poverty and inequality.

These economic policies now find a prominent place in the WSSD as the primary means for achieving its goals. Sustainability is a principle; trade and investment are not. The latter are only a means to an end. A clear lesson of the last decade is that the right and the capacity of governments to regulate is essential for sustainable development, since the free market may not lead to the achievement of this objective without governments that can effectively regulate the market, both at the national and the international level. All nations will benefit from a rules-based global order that is fair and equitable, a just trading regime that subordinates the needs of corporations to the needs and rights of people and the protection of the planet. Reforming the multilateral financial institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the basis of principles of equality, mutuality, transparency and public participation are essential to achieve this outcome. But if the necessary reforms are not made in short order, then new global institutions may need to be created to enact those principles.

Canada should be seeking a WSSD text that initiates a global commitment to assure that rules affecting trade and investment negotiated through the WTO or in bilateral agreements are compatible with and accountable to the principles and goals for sustainable development and poverty eradication. For example, the authority and autonomy of MEAs must be reaffirmed and it must be made clear that the objectives, principles, and provisions of MEAs must not be subordinated to the WTO rules.

4) Supporting African Citizens' Perspectives and Options for Sustainable Development in Africa

WSSD is taking place in South Africa at an important moment for that continent. Africans are seeking a more equitable partnership with the world in pursuit of urgent goals to reduce poverty and define sustainable paths for their development. The draft text highlights the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) as an important African expression of its development aspirations, as will the upcoming G8 Summit hosted by Canada. NEPAD has opened a discourse between selected African leaders and Northern donors and multilateral institutions. However, we must caution that in Africa, NEPAD as a policy framework and political compact among peoples, has not been extensively debated, much less endorsed, by important sectors of society in African countries, including government officials, parliamentarians, the media, academics and civil society organizations. In recent consultations with Canadian partners in Africa it was clear that NEPAD is a contested framework for addressing the needs and aspirations of the majority of people in Africa. We are therefore seeking Canadian initiatives at WSSD to assure that African people have the space to discuss and decide on development options for themselves, and that donors support African aspirations with a commitment to full unconditional cancellation of debt of the poorest countries and multilateral agreements that give priority to poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods for those living in poverty.

5) Situating Type 2 Partnerships within Binding Commitments of State Actors

While governments avoid firm action-oriented commitments in the draft text, the discourse in the WSSD process is increasingly focusing attention on the role of state and non-state partnerships for achieving progress, the so-called Type 2 outcomes. Partnerships between various actors in a society are essential for achieving the goals of Agenda 21. But most NGOs argue that these partnerships will accomplish very little in sustained outcomes for the benefit of all if they are developed outside of binding commitments and action on the part of all governments. Democratic accountability, particularly for those who are vulnerable or marginal in society, requires government commitments and specific plans of action. Therefore, the Canadian government's priority for WSSD must be to strengthen its own commitment (along with other governments) to specific plans for sustainable development as defined by the global conferences of the 1990s and their subsequent reviews, by the Millennium Summit, as well as obligations related to MEAs. Anything less in the draft text will not only diminish the capacity of Type 2 partnerships to work towards these ends, but will also undermine the credibility of government in the eyes of citizens, who understand the urgency of acting decisively and in concert for sustainable development.

Canada as a major player in the preparation of this very important world gathering, including its role in the bureau and as Chair of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), has a responsibility to show leadership.
Canadian NGOs are committed to making the Johannesburg Summit a success and have participated fully in the preparatory process both in Canada and internationally. They seek initiatives that fulfill the aspirations of Rio with a forward-looking action plan. NGOs will be looking to Canada to push the limits of what is possible and not seek the comfort of compromise with the lowest common position. Canadian organizations will be active in Bali encouraging all delegations to meet their obligations. If we fail to demonstrate progress, the UN system, so crucial to our common future, will lose credibility, along with the governments that undermine this progress. Canadian NGOs, along with other civil society actors, will be assessing the outcomes of the Bali meeting. We will be evaluating how our voices have been taken into account or silenced despite the considerable investment of time, energy, resources and good faith into the process. Participation is not an end in itself; citizens' participation in the process will be affected by their perception of the political will of governments to produce meaningful outcomes for WSSD.

For all governments, one important aspect of this commitment begins with a country's reporting process for the WSSD. In the case of Canada, many NGOs are concerned about the fact that our national report to the WSSD has not yet been tabled. Canada started an innovative process to ensure wider public stakeholder oversight and input to Canada's national report, but the publication of the final document seems to have been put on hold without explanation. As a result, Canada's own accountability to the WSSD process is in question. We urge you to release Canada's national report without delay, before the WSSD process is finished.

The NGO members of the delegation, and other NGOs participating in the process, remain committed to taking every opportunity in Bali, with the Canadian delegation and with others who share our goals, to produce a forward-looking and specific action plan for truly sustainable development. However, time is quickly running out and we may be missing a golden opportunity in Johannesburg that will not come again soon.

Sincerely yours,
Gerry Barr
President-CEO
Canadian Council for International Co-operation
On behalf of the following signatories:

• Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, Council of Canadians
• Pierre Beaudet, Executive Director, Alternatives
• Ralph Bromley, Executive Director, Hope for the Nations
• Rick Ciccarelli, Representative, Campaign for the Earth
• David Durrance, Founding Director, International Association for Transformation
• David Hallman, Co-Chair, Ecological Justice Program Committee, KAIROS, Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives / Initiatives canadiennes oecuméniques pour la justice
• Prabha Khosla, Women's Network for Sustainability, (25 members)
• Gabriele Kretzachmar, New Brunswick Partners in Agriculture
• Katherine McDonald , Executive Director, Action Canada for Population and Development /Action Canada pour la population et le développement
• Aaron Orkin, on behalf of the National Youth Summit Team, (11 members)
• Angela Rickman, Deputy Director, Sierra Club of Canada
• Michael Simpson, Executive Director, One Sky - The Canadian Institute for Sustainable Living
• Ghislain Valade, Executive Director, Solidarité Canada Sahel
• Cliff Wallis, President, Friends of the Oldman River
• L. Sheppard Whalen, Ph.D., President and CEO, Centre for Longterm Environmental Action in Nf/Ld

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